Pink and Blue Balloons
by Suki-Alanna
Summary: Lily is pregnant, but James hasn't quite figured that out yet. No worry, it's only the first trimester.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: New multi-chap, for**** Yaoiluvergirl's Multi-Chapter Romance challenge. Please review if you want me to continue or have any suggestions.**

Lily bit her lip and looked around nervously. "Are you sure he won't mind?" she asked.

"He'll be ecstatic. Are you sure, though?" Allie didn't look up from her magazine as she reassured her friend.

"I guess… but we weren't prepared. I haven't tested yet, but I'm certain."

"Are you, now?"

"I've never been a day late in my life, Allie. What should I do?"

"Maybe you should actually test," her friend sighed. "Merlin, Lils, calm down. James loves you, no matter what, and he'll always love you. Don't worry about it."

"I don't know," Lily continued to fret.

"Lily Potter, listen to me. James risked his parent's wrath who, although they liked you, weren't sure about ending the family line. He risked the pureblood society's wrath, and he's even risking that Voldemort guy. I'm certain he loves you more than anything."

Lily knew that what her friend said was true, but she always worried anyway. James had been a jerk, and she had spent the first sixteen years of her life hating him. As much as she loved him, there were times when she worried about the silliest of things.

Many purebloods were jerks. Her former friend Narcissa Black's fiancé Lucius Malfoy, was much like that. The two girls couldn't keep in touch because of him, and Lily knew that he was the one who had killed that first year, Hope Kingston. It just wasn't right.

"I suppose…"

"Just go test, Lily!"

"But it's so awkward!"

"Go in the bathroom then. I won't watch."

"You had better not! Peeing on a little stick is awkward enough!"

"Lily, that's the Muggle way. There is a spell, you know."

"Oh," Lily said, feeling more than a bit foolish. "Well, what is it, then?"

Ally tossed a magazine at her. "Page three. Now scat."

Lily walked into the bathroom she shared with James with some trepidation. She just wasn't ready to be a mother, especially with the war that was looming on the horizon.

She said the spell, her reluctance evident in her voice. A small + sign showed in the air in front of her. "ALLY!" She screamed.

Her blond friend came running in. "What is it, Lily?"

"I'M POSITIVE!" the red head was distraught.

"I thought you already knew that," Ally rolled her eyes.

"But I wasn't certain!"

"How are you going to tell James?" Ally had never been the best at cheering people up or giving advice and it showed. Her motto was, 'I don't do advice. May I interest you in a sarcastic comment instead?'.

"Tell James? Bloody hell, Ally, I haven't even processed it myself yet!"

"Well, you _are_ married to him, aren't you?"

"Well, yes," Lily said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Then he'll stick with you through it."

"You can't be certain!"

"Lily, of course I can. It's James bloody Potter. He stuck with you for seven years!"

"THERE'S A BLOODY WAR ON, ALLY! WHAT IF HE DIES?"

That gave her pause. "Oh. I hadn't considered that."

"Of _course_ you hadn't. No one ever thinks about the fact that either one of us could die any day now and we would be just another casualty."

"Lily, don't be like that. You wouldn't just be another casualty, you're the Potters. James is a Pureblood, and there will be uproar if he died."

Lily sniffed. "He's also a blood traitor."

Ally didn't know how to respond to that. "Let's stop being so morbid. How about those Cannons?"

"Please, Ally. They're terrible. The Harpies or Puddlemere, I think."

"You're just copying James."

"Well, yes, but what do you expect me to say when you start talking about Quidditch? I don't get it. It's just another silly game."

"Lee! Quidditch is my favorite sport!"

"I just don't get it! James has tried explaining… but it makes no sense."

"Wow, Lily. Just wow."

"Honey, I'm home!" James called.

"In here!" Lily shouted back.

James walked in smiling, and was surprised to see Ally sitting there reading a copy of Quidditch Is Us that she had kept in her bag.

"Er, hello," he said.

"Hi James," the women chorused.

"It's nice to see you again, Alice. How's Frank?"

"He's okay." She patted her stomach. "And so is this one. If Lily were to be pregnant, would you be happy?"

Lily blushed, knowing that her friend had just given everything away. "_Ally_," she whined, "we don't need to worry about that!"

James' frown deepened. "I thought we discussed this—we'd both like to have a child at some point."

"Well, yes, but not now. Not until after the war."

James' frown cleared. "As always, Lily Potter attempting to single handedly save the entire world."

Lily jumped, as she always did, at the title she was still getting used to. "I don't think I can single handedly save the world… !" she protested.

"_Sure_ you don't," Ally rolled her eyes. "I must be going, but stop by sometime. James, by the way—"

"Don't you dare!" Lily exclaimed.

"Puddlemere won't win." Alice Apparated away with that final line.

"Of course they will," James said. "Unless the Harpies win. Who is she rooting for?"

"The Cannons," Lily laughed. "I'll go make dinner."

"They won't win either," James said, and that was the end of that.

James awoke to something breaking. "Lily?" he called. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, James!" He heard her voice yell back. He wasn't entirely sure, though, so he ran to the kitchen.

"Lily," he said, "what on earth did you do to the kitchen?"


	2. Chapter 2

"There was a slight mishap." Slight didn't cover it. "Good morning, though."

He surveyed the kitchen. Food was everywhere and several plates were broken, as well as a steak knife sticking out of a wall.

"Good morning, love," he had given up on trying to understand women years before, especially his Lily Flower.

"I'll clean this up," she murmured, and waved her wand. Everything returned to its proper place, though there was still a whole in the wall where the knife was.

"What's wrong, Lils?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, turning her face away from him and allowing her long red hair to block his view of her.

"Lily," he said, turning her face to his with one finger, "you destroyed the kitchen, and it wasn't over nothing. What's really going on here?"

She bit her lip. "James, what if one of us goes on a mission and never comes home?"

That was what her problem was about? He caught her hands in his. "Lily Potter, I love you more than anything else in the world. I married you, which shows a lot." She laughed slightly, and he continued. "I know—we know—that it's always a danger, but Lily, nothing, not even death, could keep me away from you. I love you more than is truly healthy."

"But what—"

"No, Lily. We'll get through this, same as we always do. Brighten up, we have our whole lives ahead of us."

"You're late to work."

He looked at the time. "Darn, you're right. I have to go!" He ran out the door.

"James, dearest," she called after him, "some pants would be nice!"

Finally, Lily got him out the door and sat down to work on the novel she was writing.

'_It was a cold, snowy day in November, and Juliana Paris was stuck outside in it. The snow landed on her black jacket and hair, turning both white. It was the first time the young heiress had ever been caught in such a storm, and she was almost enjoying it, though she longed to be inside._

_In short, she was the perfect candidate for my master plan._

"_This isn't smart," Spencer whispered to me—'_

"LILY!" Ally burst into the house. "Lily, Lily, Lily, the Cannons almost won!"

"Almost?" the redhead raised an eyebrow, not happy to be disturbed while she was writing.

"Yes! It was their final game, and they scored a goal!"

"Just one?"

"Yes! The other team only won by 490!"

"Well, that's wonderful."

"I have to go tell Frank!"

"Isn't he at work? And aren't you supposed to be?"

"Well, yes…" she admitted, "but I took the day off for the game!"

"You know, Ally, it would sound better if you could say the Cannons actually won," Lily pointed out.

"I guess it would, but Lee, this is revolutionary!"

"Revolutionary how, exactly?"

"Well, the Cannons haven't gotten this close to winning in years!"

"That's all very wonderful, but Alice, I need to write."

"You used my full name, Lee."

"I'm well aware of that fact. It means you need to scram."

"Fine then," she sighed. "If you would just get a job, all of this would go away."

"I can't," she said, "Muggleborn, remember?"

"Since when does that stop you from getting a job?"

"Since all this Voldemort nonsense started. Now if you don't mind, I have a book to write."

Alice rolled her eyes and parted with one small remark, "Have you told him yet?"

Lily wasn't quite sure how to answer that.

His day at the office had been a mess. Someone had apparently swallowed poison, and some idiot wanted to call it murder, so he and two other Aurors were called to sort that out. After that, there was a whole bunch of paper work to do. At least, until the ceiling started raining and five secretaries quit.

All in all, he was looking forward to a nice, relaxing evening with his wife. That was not what he found when he walked in the door.

"Lily," he sighed as he waded through parchment to get to her, "what is this, exactly?"

"I can't get it right!"

He read over her shoulder. _'"Is anything I ever do smart, Spencer?"_

"_Well, no, but—"_

"_Then don't insult me." I readied my wand and slunk forward._

"_I just don't like this, Valeria," he sighed. "But I suppose you're the boss."_

"_Darn right I am. Are you ready?"_

_He nodded tersely, his wand clasped in his sweaty palm. I already knew he would help. Spencer was always behind me, no matter what.'_

"I like it," James said.

"Don't lie," Lily said. "It's terrible. I have the writer's block of the century." She moved her hand and winced. "Writer's cramp to go along with it, as well, I see."

James began to massage her back. "Just let go," he said, "and write. It's okay, Lily, I promise."

"Do you think Valeria is a weird person?"

"I don't think her name quite fits, but she seems fine otherwise."

"I wasn't sure what to call her. What about Hope?" Lily smiled up at him.

"I don't know. Perhaps you should choose something a bit more dangerous and foreign. Like Anastasia."

"That's Russian," Lily said, "and a lot of people think Russians are dangerous…"

He knew she didn't like it. "What about Carrie?"

She beamed. "Perfect."

"_Well, no, but—"_

"_Then don't insult me." I readied my wand and slunk forward._

"_I just don't like this, Carrie," he sighed. "But I suppose you're the boss."_

"_Darn right I am. Are you ready?"_

_He nodded tersely, his wand clasped in his sweaty palm. I already knew he would help. Spencer was always behind me, no matter what._

_Juliana pulled out a cell phone, some high tech thing, and I used that moment to spring onto her back, my momentum pushing us both over into the deep snow._

_Spencer hurried out, ropes at the ready. I grabbed the girl's phone, purse and yanked her coat off. What can I say? It was a nice coat._

_Oh, you want to know more about me before we continue with this story? As you can see, I go by Carrie, but my full name is Caroline Hacks. I'm a first class criminal—don't look so scared, I've never actually murdered someone._

_And I know that you think this story has no plot, but let me assure you, it has a plot. It has a lot of plot. But the story starts there, with Juliana, so that is where I began telling it, though you didn't know anything about me.'_

James and Lily didn't know it, but looking at them was a rat. Well, not a rat, precisely. He was a human who was in the shape of a rat, though his personality… let's just say that 'rat' was the best, and possibly nicest, way to describe that foul rat, er, man.

'There are Potter and his slut,' the rat thought. 'I can't believe we were ever friends.'

He turned and scurried away from the pair, back to whatever hole he came from. Unfortunately, it would not be the last time the two were in the presence of the rat.


End file.
